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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27486316">He's Only Gay</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous6285/pseuds/Anonymous6285'>Anonymous6285</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>*pride* [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Nowhere Boy (2009), The Beatles (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Coming Out, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, High School, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Misunderstandings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:54:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,421</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27486316</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous6285/pseuds/Anonymous6285</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Brian comes out to George as gay, and all seems fine until it isn't.</p><p>OR</p><p>A big mess of understandings that leads to a lot of hurt feelings.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>*pride* [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1967863</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>He's Only Gay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>George had been waiting all class to just get out and go to the toilet. Not even just to go to the toilet, but to get out of class. A group of boys he’d hung out with just a couple of times kept whispering quietly among themselves, the teacher was pissed off, and Brian, his only friend in maths, hadn’t even shown up to the class at all.</p><p>“Boys,” the man at the front of the classroom said. “If you don’t stop it, I’m going to have to send you to the headmaster.” They all straightened up in their chairs, glancing over at the empty chair next to them, where Brian usually sat. One of them snickered.</p><p>He wondered if they knew where the boy was. He’d been here this morning, he’d even eaten lunch with George, which he thought was weird. Usually, he’d eat with his other group of friends, but today, he’d tagged along after health, despite not knowing any of George’s other friends.</p><p>Before he had a chance to ask if he wanted to introduce them, Brian had finished his slice of pizza and started to head off. And that was the last he’d seen of him all day.</p><p>As he got lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t even realised that class had ended until the kids around him started to get up and leave, and he also got his stuff together and started to head out. He hurried to the bathroom and immediately went over to the sink, turning it on and splashing some water on his face. It was probably the only way he was going to get himself to calm down. </p><p>But as he turned it off, he heard a small sniffle, and he recognised who it was in seconds. Turning his head around, he saw that all the stall doors were open, and nobody else was in the bathroom with him. </p><p>“Brian?” he muttered into the emptiness, and the sniffles stopped. He went to check all of the stalls and found his friend in the last one, curled up in a ball next to the toilet with tears streaking down his face. George hated how vulnerable he looked, especially when he usually seemed like such a lively person. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Brian muttered. “M’just upset, s’all.” He wiped at his nose with his jacket sleeve, and George blinked at him. “W-what do you want from me??” he snapped, and George jumped back.</p><p>“I-I’m just worried. Why weren’t you in class?” It seemed a simple question, but Brian huffed at him and rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Just leave me alone, George. I don’t want to talk to anybody about this, okay?” Silence overtook the both of them for a long while until George set his bag down and got down on the floor with Brian. “What are you--?”</p><p>“Never said you did,” he mumbled, getting himself comfortable. “But we don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. Whenever I’m sad, I just like to be with somebody else, even if we’re silent. It’s nice knowing there’s somebody there for me.”</p><p>Brian eyed him. “You’re gonna miss your next class.”</p><p>“I have that class every day for the rest of the semester. And you’re upset, so I’m going to stay here with you until you feel better.” He leaned up against the wall, and sighed. “If you don’t want me here, just tell me. No hard feelings.”</p><p>“No, it’s alright. It is nice to know there’s somebody there when everybody else hates you.”</p><p>It took a second for George to understand what he meant, but then he spoke. “Nobody hates you, Brian.”</p><p>“You shouldn’t lie. That’s not a very nice thing to do.”</p><p>“What do you mean?” Brian just shrugged. “Who hates you? Was somebody mean to you or something?”</p><p>“Well done, Sherlock,” Brian replied sarcastically, hoping it would be able to hide the hurt in his voice. George just looked at him sadly, as if asking what happened. “It was nothing, okay? Just some kids..”</p><p>“You missed an entire class, and it was just nothing?”</p><p>“You said you wouldn’t talk about it,” the older boy groaned.</p><p>“I know, I know, I’m worried, though. People can be jerks, and you’re too nice of a person to have to deal with all that.” That made Brian smile, but when George smiled back at him, his smile fell. “What’s wrong, Eppy?”</p><p>“It’s just… you’re the only friend I have left.” </p><p>George cocked his head to the side in confusion. “What do ya mean? You’ve got a whole group of friends. They all seem really fun.” When Brian only seemed to be getting more upset, George sighed. “Did something happen with them?” A nod filled the silence. “Ah,” he replied understandingly. “What was it?”</p><p>“I don’t think you’d take it too well, either. I mean, they were my closest friends, and even they ridiculed me for it.”</p><p>George shrugged, uncomfortable now. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But unless you say you’ve killed somebody or some shit like that, I’m right here. No judgement. I promise.”</p><p>Brian closed his eyes and sighed with a weak smile on his face. “I-if I tell you, can you promise you won’t tell anybody else?”</p><p>“Yeah,” George said after a few seconds. “Yeah, of course.”</p><p>“Okay… Geo, I’m gay.” George didn’t say anything for the next minute or so, mostly because he’d never heard that word before, and he had no idea what it meant. But the silence wasn’t helping Brian determine whether or not George was okay with this or not. “I-I’m sorry. Just… forget I ever said that. I’ll leave you alone now. I’m so sorry…”</p><p>He started to get up to leave the toilet, but George grabbed his wrist. “W-wait, Eppy, it’s fine. It’s alright. I said I wouldn’t judge…”</p><p>“You probably think I’m gross, though.” He didn’t. He wasn’t really sure what gay was or why it was cause for concern. Brian was an amazing person. What could possibly change that?</p><p>“I don’t think you’re gross,” he said truthfully. “You’re still Brian.” It seemed to be the right thing to say, because Brian smiled at him.</p><p>“Maybe we should get to class, yeah?” he whispered, and George nodded in agreement. Though he was as confused as he’d ever been, he decided to get up with Brian, and the two of them headed back out into the hall.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>That night, at the Harrison dinner table, George made a big mistake. He decided to try to help his curiosity and ask his family what gay really meant. As soon as he muttered the words, “hey, erm, I was wondering w-what gay meant,” everyone at the table stilled.</p><p>His father drilled into him with his eyes, his mother kept hers down on her plate of food, and Peter just laughed.</p><p>“Georgie’s fifteen and still doesn’t know what gay means!” he joked. “Baby…”</p><p>“Peter, leave your brother alone!” Louise shouted at him. “George, it means--”</p><p>“Where did you hear that?” Harold demanded with a stone cold face. George wanted to open his mouth and tell him that his friend was gay, but it didn’t seem like the right thing to do. His father seemed really angry about it.</p><p>“Just… just some kid from school. Some kids were making fun of him,” he said. Though it wasn’t the complete truth, and wasn’t a lie, either. “They said he was gay.”</p><p>Harold sighed. “Thank god… look, it doesn’t matter what it means. I want you to stay away from him, okay?”</p><p>“The… the gay kid?” George whispered, shocked. He didn’t want to be told what to do. He just wanted to know what it meant. </p><p>“Yes, the… yes, him. I don’t want him anywhere near you. Or you, Peter. Is that clear?” His voice was thick, and neither of them dared to disagree.</p><p>“But what does it mean?” George said, testing the limit of being grounded for the next month. His mother glanced up and eyed him.</p><p>“Is that clear?” Harold repeated, and George nodded, looking back down at his fork.</p><p>For the rest of dinner, they avoided the topic completely, but Peter continued shooting weird glances at his little brother.</p><p>Afterwards, George hurried to his room and pulled out the one dictionary he had in his room, but when he opened up to the place where the word should be, it wasn’t in there. Finally deciding that he absolutely had to know what it meant, he worked up the courage to walk over to Peter’s room and step inside.</p><p>“Hey, Peter?” Peter turned his head. “Can I talk to you?” </p><p>“You want to know what gay means, don’t you?” he laughed, and George nodded shyly. “Who’s gay?” he asked. “Your friend?” George shook his head. “Is it Paul? He seems the type.”</p><p>“N-no, it’s not my friend. It’s just this guy from my maths class. I just have never heard the word before. Honest.”</p><p>Peter rolled his eyes. “Well, dad’s right. You should just stay away from him.”</p><p>“But why?”</p><p>“You sure do ask a lot of questions.” When he looked over at George, he was staring at him pleadingly. “It means he’s a pervert, George. It means he’s going to do whatever it takes to get his hand in your pants. Literally.”</p><p>“What..? Why would he want to do that? He’s such a nice person.”</p><p>“I dunno, George. Just be careful, okay?” George nodded with a red face. “Great. Can you get out now?” George left the room, hands shaking. Brian was a pervert? It seemed so strange, but if Brian had confirmed it himself, maybe that’s why his friends were so upset with him.</p><p>Maybe it would be better to keep his distance. He never knew what could happen when he hung out with a pervert.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>The next day, he kept his distance from Brian, who seemed a little bit confused about what was going on. He followed George to lunch again, and when he sat down next to him, George shifted uncomfortably next to him.</p><p>“Who’s this?” Paul asked, smiling at Brian. George didn’t answer.</p><p>“Earth to Geo,” John said with a laugh, glancing over at Stuart. “Hey, who’s your friend?”</p><p>“It’s, erm, it’s Brian.” They all started to say hello to him, and he waved back, but then George spoke again. “He’s gay.”</p><p>The blood drained from Brian’s face as the rest of them froze awkwardly, looking over at him. At first, the boy thought he was about to be thrown out of another friend group, but Paul cleared his throat.</p><p>“O-okay… I don’t see why that’s…” He chuckled nervously. “Okay.” His face was bright red, and he made eye contact with John a couple seats over. George seemed a little confused about all of it, but he didn’t say anything. </p><p>Stuart looked Brian up and down and sighed through his nose when he saw how scared he was. “You’re good, Brian. Nobody here is going to bother you about it. Lord knows they’re not ones to talk.”</p><p>Pete hit him in the arm. “I’m not fucking gay, you prick!”</p><p>“Doesn’t mean John’s not,” Paul muttered. “Fantasises about Elvis day and night. Why do you think he even let me in your little band?” George got more and more uncomfortable. John was gay, too?</p><p>“I’m not gay,” John mumbled angrily, face red. Brian glanced between them all. </p><p>“Whatever the case may be, it’s perfectly fine,” Stuart said. “And Brian, it’s nice to meet you.” He stuck a hand out to shake hands, and Brian shook back. All George could think about was his brother saying that he was going to stick in his pants. That sounded so strange. Why would they be eager to befriend him if they knew that about him. </p><p>The rest of lunch, he didn’t say anything else to any of them, and a few minutes before class started, he got up to leave. Brian got up and followed him.</p><p>“Hey, George?” he said with a smile, his mood much better than yesterday’s, and it made George sick. A pervert like him didn’t deserve to be so happy. “Hey, thanks for introducing me to your friends. They’re really nice. I--”</p><p>“Shut up, okay?” George snapped. “Just leave me alone, you sick pervert!” Brian stopped, and George did, too.</p><p>“What do you me--”</p><p>“My brother told me all about you!” Brian’s eyebrows knitted together. “You’re disgusting.”</p><p>“I-I don’t even know you’re brother. How is that possible..?”</p><p>“Well, you’re gay, aren’t you? Queer?” </p><p>“Is that what this is about? George, I’m not that kind of a person. You know that. You’ve known that the whole time we’ve been friends.” George glared at him. “Geo…”</p><p>“Just go away and leave me alone, okay? I don’t want to talk to you.” Brian just sniffled and walked away. As George got further down the hall, John caught up with him.</p><p>“You going to Engli--?”</p><p>“Yes, go to your own class, and leave.” John cocked his head, opening his mouth to speak. “I don’t want to hear it.”</p><p>“What’s going on? You seem off today.” </p><p>“I’m fine. It’s just… you’re gay?” He couldn’t stop himself from saying it. He was much too shocked by the news. John froze, not knowing how to respond. “John, are you…?”</p><p>“I… I mean, I guess so. I never really thought about it, though, so I don’t--”</p><p>“You fucking queer…” John’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected George, one of his closest friends, to start to talk about this… </p><p>“Excuse me?”</p><p>“You heard me, faggot. You’re disgusting. Stay the fuck away from me.”</p><p>John was completely frozen in place as George started to walk away. He wanted to cry, but he didn’t know how at the moment. It was like everything just stopped, and he had no choice but to stare.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Once again, they were all sitting for lunch in the cafeteria, and George was staring right at John across the table. Brian had showed up again but this time, sat in between Stuart and Paul, nowhere near George.</p><p>It stayed relatively quiet until John huffed and slid his lunch tray into the centre of the table in anger.</p><p>“John’s what did you do that for?” Stu complained, and when John shot him a glance, he put his hands up in fake surrender. “Whoa, what’s up with you?”</p><p>“George,” he muttered, “is a fucking cunt.” Brian blushed. Had George been rude to more than just him? Maybe it hadn’t been personal but just a bad day.</p><p>“Course I am,” George replied, rolling his eyes.</p><p>Paul, who had noticed the awful tension between them since they first sat down, swallowed thickly. “Alright, if you two don’t work out your differences, I’m going to have to butt in. And you don’t want that.”</p><p>“I don’t think he wants to work out the differences, either,” John spat harshly. “I’m just a dirty queer. Why would he want to be friends with me?”</p><p>“Oh, god,” Pete mumbled nervously, and Stuart glanced over at John with sad eyes.</p><p>“Johnny, what are you talking about? You know that George doesn’t mind--”</p><p>“I guess he forgot.” Suddenly a tear slipped out of his eye, and he wiped it away, quickly looking down to hide it. George stood up from his spot, grabbed his backpack, and ran from the table to his next class.</p><p>Of course, Paul chased after him a few minutes later.</p><p>“George! Did something happen between you two?” George shook his head. “Well, something had to have happened, because--”</p><p>“Nothing happened, Paul. Please just drop it.”</p><p>“Geo, he said you called him a fag.” George’s next words fell into oblivion, so he went with the closest thing to them.</p><p>“Well, he is, isn’t he?” Paul’s jaw dropped. “Answer the fucking question, Paul. He’s a queer, yeah?”</p><p>“That’s not… you don’t just say stuff like that to people, George! I mean, what even happened, though? You’ve known him for this long!”</p><p>“I didn’t know he was fucking gay!” George shouted, and Paul shivered. “I know that he’s a good guy, but… but I never knew he was a pervert.”</p><p>Paul studied George’s face for a while. “Geo, what are you talking about?! It’s just John! So what if he’s gay? Besides, I thought you knew that already…”</p><p>“My dad says I should stay away from gay people,” he mumbled.</p><p>“Are you kidding?” Paul shouted back. “You’re the most ridiculous person I’ve ever known!”</p><p>“I don’t want him feeling me up! That’s not very appropriate, is it?!” George crossed his arms, and Paul’s expression changed.</p><p>“Oh, god… Did he… did he do something to you?” George blushed. “George, please, if something happened, we need to address it. That’s not okay for him to do that.”</p><p>“No, he didn’t.” Relief washed over the older boy. “But what if he tries to? What if he does?”</p><p>For a few seconds, they both just stared at each other, George awaiting an answer and Paul trying to figure out what was even going on at all. “Geo, what’s got you so freaked out about all of this? Does it have anything to do with Brian? Did he touch you or something?”</p><p>“No!”</p><p>“Then what the fuck is it?! Because you’re kind of freaking me out. All of a sudden, you suddenly care so much about the fact that John is gay. You’ve known this whole time that--”</p><p>“I already told you! I didn’t know he was gay!”</p><p>Paul rolled his eyes. “You’ve been in his room, Geo. Did you think his obsession with Elvis and all those half naked pictures of guys were just a coincidence?”</p><p>George’s face became even more red at the mention of all of John’s posters. “I don’t see what that’s got to with anything…”</p><p>“Wh--? George, that’s literally what you’re arguing about!” George didn’t say anything, and it only took a second for Paul to realise that George didn’t actually have a clue what he was talking about. “Oh my, god… George, w-what does gay mean?”</p><p>“What?” he asked dumbly.</p><p>“What does gay mean?” he repeated, crossing his own arms.</p><p>“P-Peter said it meant perverted. He said that gay people always do whatever it takes to… to touch you in places you don’t want to be touched.” Paul laughed out loud, only angering George further. “What?? What’s so funny?”</p><p>“You’re so fucking clueless. George, that’s not… that’s not what it means. It means you’re attracted to people of the same gender as you.” George’s eyes widened.</p><p>“Th-that’s it?” Paul nodded. “But… then why did Peter say that?”</p><p>“You know how people can be about things like that, George. That’s why we never really talk about John being gay in public. It’s illegal.”</p><p>“Illegal??” he hissed. “For liking somebody? How?!” Paul shrugged.</p><p>“I don’t know. But… look, I’ll talk to John and tell him you didn’t actually mean that stuff, b-but did you talk to your friend Brian about it, too?”</p><p>“Shit…” George sighed. “God, I’m a horrible person.”</p><p>“You’re not. You’re just gullible. Just explain it to Brian. He won’t mind. I promise.”</p><p>George nodded, starting to head back to the lunch table with Paul. When they got there, Paul pulled John aside and George spoke. “Eppy, can I talk to you for a second?” Brian glared at him. “Please?”</p><p>“Okay.” He got up and followed George to the hall. “What is it?”</p><p>“I’m sorry.” Brian seemed unimpressed. “W-when you told me you were gay, I didn’t… I didn’t know what it meant. And I don’t know why I trusted him, but my brother told me that it meant y-you were going to try to… get your hand in my pants.” Brian smiled. “So I went a little bit too far, because I was scared. I’m really sorry that I hurt you, but just know that I only said that because I thought you were some crazed sexual predator or something. Not because you’re gay.”</p><p>Brian was laughing at this point, and his big smile at that moment brought immense joy to George. “So you know what it means now, yeah?” George nodded. “Well, I’m glad that you no longer think I’m some creep. I forgive you.”</p><p>George started towards him for a hug but stopped. “Is it weird if I hug you? I don’t know…”</p><p>“You’re my friend, Geo. It’d be weird if you didn’t.” Brian finished the hug, and George was glad that even after he’d been a complete asshole, his friends were still able to forgive him.</p>
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